There's no escaping the clutches of Professor Bonnefoy.

[firecracker_bao]

WHO: A skiving Slytherin and the Potions professor
WHEN: October 21st, lunch time
WHERE: From the Great Hall to somewhere not the Great Hall..?
WHAT: Zhi gets caught being a delinquent for the third time this week.

Comments

[la_grand_vie]

If the potions professor was completely honest with himself, then he didn't really care one way or another if his students attended his class. It was their grade- their responsiblity and if they wanted to graduate.

Well. Potions was a required course after all. And his ablity to give them perminant Ts if they honestly deserved them.

But... After the previous events that week, the one the previous night involving one bitter exchange between himself and a German student he wasn't in the best of moods or one to deal tactly with any students that may have rubbed him the wrong way.

And one student he only vaguely knew because of his rather pathetic attendence record seemed to stick out like a sour thumb from the crowd and Francis was about to have a little chat with a student about his attendence habits.

"Zhi." the professor walked over quickly, grabbing his shoulder. "There you are."

[firecracker_bao]

Zhi very nearly leapt straight up at the professor's sudden appearance, only barely managing to bite back a yelp. Francis was in luck- he just so happened to have a hold on the shoulder with a particularly nasty bruise hidden underneath his robes, from where Zhi had been thrown into a bookshelf none too gently. Had he chosen the other one, the boy would have shrugged him off and disappeared faster than you could say evanesco.

But fortunately for him and unfortunately for the boy, he hadn't. As it was, Zhi froze where he was, forcing himself to look up at everyone's favourite professor. The students around him exchanged looks knowingly, shaking their heads as they continued walking. The day the Slytherin avoided getting into trouble even once would be the day You-Know-Who would return, they were sure. Zhi felt quite the same way.

"Y-yes?"

[la_grand_vie]

"Now tell me," Francis said, none too kindly as his grip tightened, unknowingly applying more pressure on the most likely throbbing bruise. He had no more sympthy for the boy, even though in his own years at Slytherin he'd been known not for his lecherous ways but, well- misbehaving. Ditching, often, seemed like a good way to avoid teachers and their detentions. "Have you been ill garçon?"

That was, if you didn't get caught at the end of the day.

[firecracker_bao]

Zhi winced at the increased pressure, raising a hand to try and pull the one off his shoulder but evidently thinking better of it. He left it floating awkwardly nearby, as though poised to fend off a sneak attack with a single hand

"N-Not exactly..," he trailed off distractedly, the pain disabling his usually-impressive skill of coming up with excuses. Mentally he kicked himself for it, but that definitely wasn't the answer the professor wanted to hear, and as Zhi tried pulling weakly away the grip tightened even more.

"--天啊 please professor canyoupleaseletgoi-itreallyhurtsokaaay."

[la_grand_vie]

The professor frowned even harder, but he was never one to physically punish his students, he was still too lax about punishment on most parts of things. "It hurts?" he murmured quietly, letting go of the boy's shoulder to put on his hip, sighing. He really hoped Zhi didn't try to run away- he wasn't really in the mood to chase down someone either.

"Then explain yourself boy. Or you will forever have a T in my class regardless of how much you actually attend."

[firecracker_bao]

Once the professor finally released his hold, Zhi rubbed at his shoulder, relieved. Briefly, he debated on dashing off to rejoin the crowd, but that would only delay and aggravate the next time the professor caught him to give him a dressing down.

"Well," he began, his imagination conveniently blanking out at this urgent time. "I got into.. an accident the other day. So I'd probably do even worse in class than I normally would so I thought I'd spare everyone the trouble of having to deal with any.. mishaps... and.." Zhi paused, trying to think of anything to add on to his sorry excuse of an excuse. Evidently, pain had no factor in the level of crappiness he could come up with.

"...yeah," he finished lamely, staring fixedly at the floor.

[la_grand_vie]

Two fingers pinched the bridge of Francis' nose and he breathed out slowly, shaking his head. "You realize you making up excuses just to get out of my class is never going to turn you into a wizard, oui?" he mumbled out tiredly. "You are going to fail all of your tests- and on top of that you are sorely missing out on things that could actually make your trouble making worth-while."

One blue eye closed while the other kept watching Zhi quietly. "Such as- did you know that many of the potions I teach could usually be turned into a rather nice prank? I bet you didn't know that, did you?"

[firecracker_bao]

"I did," came the non-commital answer, but all the same there was no mistaking the flicker of interest in his eyes.

--oh, but this was Potions they were talking about. Zhi wasn't one to let his life-long grudge against the subject go for the sake of pranks; besides, he felt he already did quite well with his more.. explosive methods. His indifferent gaze was lifted from the floor to meet the professor's without another word, clearly impatient to go or at least, stop having to listen to what he had to say.

[la_grand_vie]

"Such as," Francis held up one finger, arching an eyebrow. "Did you know that just last week I taught the class how to create a potion that could make one burst out into song in the middle of whatever they are doing?"

The professor sighed slightly, hoping he wasn't going up against a solid brick wall of a mind with this boy and speaking to it like a lunatic. "Seeing your favourite brand of pranks however, there is also an exploding potion that comes in very handy if you ever want to make someone's food... homework.. what have you- blow up in their face. You can even mix it to have a double effect."

fff ridiculously short and fail reply is ridiculously short and fail /3\

[firecracker_bao]

And with the mention of exploding potions, the professor successfully captured Zhi's attention. Sort of.

"Really?" A flash of excitement briefly lit his face, but it was gone as fast as it arrived as suspicion took its place. "...wait, as a professor shouldn't you be discouraging pranks instead of doing the opposite?"

It's perfectly fine dear~

[la_grand_vie]

Francis snorted and shook his head, one hand going to his hip as he rolled his eyes at the boy. "You've forgotten my heritage. I used to be a Slytherin, just like you- and I used to play worst pranks in my time than you did. If it gets you to attend my class and at least pay some kind of attention then I am really not below teaching it."

"After all," the professor's grin started to appear again, albeit a tad more tired and lazy. "I need someone to continue on my legacy."

[firecracker_bao]

Zhi stayed silent, taking this in. It was somewhat surprising-- and impressive- that an ex-prankster could become a professor, and Professor Bonnefoy had just scored some respect points from him. Not that he'd let him know, of course.

"I-I guess it wouldn't hurt to attend a bit more often," he mumbled grudgingly, glancing away to avoid seeing the look of victory on the professor's face.

On second thought, perhaps it might hurt for one or two other students as a result of in-class "accidents", but that would be too bad for them.

[la_grand_vie]

Nodding curtly, Francis rubbed his neck slightly, debating the cons of what he had just offered to the blossoming criminal and sighing out heavily. He mentally shrugged, it couldn't hurt too badly, after all- he had turned out alright and all. "Tres bon, then hopefully I shall see you next class time, hmm?"

He lightly put a hand on Zhi's shoulder, patting it before starting to turn again. "Have a good day~"